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The abuse of prescription drugs is a growing threat in parts of Africa and Asia with rates “soaring”, the United Nations has warned.

While there has been much focus on the opioid crisis in the United States, where fentanyl and similar drugs are behind an increasing number of fatal overdoses, the recreational use of the strong painkiller tramadol has become a growing concern in parts of Africa and Asia.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime's World Drugs Report 2018 says seizures of pharmaceutical opioids – mainly tramadol in west, central and north Africa – accounted for 87 per cent of the global total in 2016.

The UN report describes the non-medical use of prescription medicines as at “epidemic proportions” and says that the global drugs trade is a major threat to public health. While the opioid crisis in the US is rightly getting attention similar problems in other parts of the world are being ignored.

In Europe the main opioid of concern is heroin but the non-medical use of methadone, buprenorphine and fentanyl have also been reported.

The rise in seizures of tramadol in Africa is mostly due to the worldwide popularity of the drug, the report says. Tramadol is smuggled to markets in west, central and north Africa and then onwards to the Middle East. Countries in these areas have reported an increase in abuse of the drug, which is seen as a way of boosting energy and enhancing a user’s mood.

There is limited data in Africa on the extent of drug use, including the use of pharmaceutical opioids.

A UN spokesperson said: "However, based on the information on treatment admissions for drug use disorders and other indicators such as expert perceptions and seizures data, we can say that there is an increase in the use and drug use disorders related to the use of pharmaceutical opioids in Africa.”

Cannabis was the most widely consumed drug in 2016, with 192 million people using it at least once that year. It was also the drug seized in the largest quantities: 6,313 tons were seized in the same year.

There were 34 million users of opiods in 2017, 34 million users of amphetamines, 21 million users of ecstasy, and 18 million users of cocaine.

Global cocaine manufacture reached the highest level ever reported, with an estimated 1,410 tons being produced. Opium production also jumped by 65 per cent to 10,500 tones.

The number of people worldwide using drugs at least once a year remained stable in 2016 with around 275 million people, or roughly 5.6 per cent of the global population aged 15-64 years.

Globally, deaths directly caused by the use of drugs increased by 60 per cent from 2000 to 2015. People over the age of 50 accounted for 27 per cent of these deaths in 2000, but this had risen to 39 per cent in 2015. About three quarters of deaths from drug use disorders among those aged 50 and older are among the ageing cohort of opioid users.